


In Tune

by Elivra



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 06:03:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elivra/pseuds/Elivra
Summary: Posted this on tumblr ages ago, but forgot to do so here! Based on a fairytale AU prompt: "So... You're the Pied Piper, eh? I thought you'd be taller." Rated for swearing.





	In Tune

**Author's Note:**

> Hi yes no I'm still struggling on my WIP's :( This was posted on tumblr months ago, so it doesn't count unfortunately.
> 
> Short, but (hopefully) sweet.
> 
> Happy reading!
> 
>  
> 
> **Note: I know nothing of Ye Olde Rat Catchinge**

“So... You’re the Pied Piper, eh? I thought you’d be taller.”

The little man casts him a sharp, dangerous glance. “And I thought you'd be richer.”

The Mayor looks taken aback, but his son, who is watching the proceedings from his position by the window, chuckles. The Piper’s steel eyes flash at him and the young man's laugh stops abruptly. The Mayor rumbles, annoyed, “Erwin.”

“Apologies,” the Mayor's son murmurs.

With a grunt, the Mayor turns back to his guest. “I'm afraid that's all the money we can spare.” There is a hint of uncertainty in his voice, a flash of fear in his eyes.

The Piper weighs the small satchel of coins in his hand, scowling. “I suppose it'll have to do.”

*

* * *

 

“I thought you played your pipe.” The Mayor's son is back, watching him set trap after trap.

“Rats prefer cotillions, and I can't play that music for shit,” the Piper says seriously.

The Mayor's son laughs again, an open, unchecked bark. “I'd like to see that,” he smiles and the Piper has to force himself to look away from his bright blue eyes.

“What? Rats dancing, or me playing?”

“Both.” The young man's smile widens.

The Piper grunts and proceeds to ignore him for the next few minutes. But the Mayor's son is relentless.

“There are stories about you, you know.”

The Piper doesn't look away from the trap he is working on. “You don't say.”

“Really frightening ones.”

There is no response and the young man forges ahead, “Is it true? Do you steal away children if you are displeased?”

The Piper finally looks up at him. “I don't,” he says flatly.

*

* * *

 

“What's your name?” He whispers.

“For fucks’ sake. Do you never stop talking?” The Piper hisses.

“Apologies,” he says, but the bright blue of his eyes are not sorry at all. “This is my first rat hunt.”

The Piper rolls his eyes. “Rule one. Shut your own trap and let the actual traps do the talking.” Right on cue, they hear a low, metallic _snap_.

*

* * *

 

“I need another day,” the Piper says without preamble. The Mayor frowns at him.

“I was told a single night is all you'd need.”

“If you want to believe in children's tales, that's up to you,” the Piper says shortly. “I take my job seriously, and I need another night to finish it.”

The Mayor tents his fingers over his desk. “You won't be getting extra pay.”

“I know.”

The Mayor quirks a thick eyebrow, the same eyebrows his son often raises in unworded glee. “Very well, then.”

*

* * *

 

The Piper returns the next morning to ask for another extension. The Mayor looks even more unimpressed. The Piper simply snaps that the town's sewers are pretty much a rat's paradise.

The Mayor's son is waiting for him at sundown, and with a single nod, the Piper lets him accompany him again.

He doesn't keep his goddamn trap shut all night.

*

* * *

 

The Piper's stay extends to a week. He pays to sleep at a farm, and when the Mayor remarks that he's spending all the money he's earning, the Piper simply shrugs.

The Mayor's son meets him at the farm every evening. They sit back on haypiles and gaze at the stars to wait until it gets late enough to go on the hunt. The Piper tells him stories of all the towns he's been to, of the strangeness of people and their myriad cruelties and kindnesses.

The Mayor's son tells him about his town, how he knows everyone there, how he's dreamt of travelling and learning and exploring for years, how he's always been silenced and ignored.

They tell each other about their mothers, and about how they miss them.

They tell each other about being alone, and they understand.

*

* * *

 

“What's your name?” He whispers, rustling the hay beneath them when he turns to look at the Piper.

“You know what I'm called.”

The young man raises himself up on his elbow. His eyes are still a gleaming excited blue, even in the moonlight. “I know you're called 'The Pied Piper’, but that's hardly your name, is it? No birth registry will have 'Piper, The Pied’ as an entry.”

“Tch. Just let me smoke in peace.”

The young man keeps looking at him, at his muscled limbs, at the faded motley of his clothes, at the long-stemmed pipe held delicately between long fingers. The Piper notices, and casts him an annoyed glance. “What are you starting at, pervert?”

The young man reddens, but holds his stare. “Forgive me. You're very beautiful.”

The Piper turns away and puffs out a cloud of smoke. “Time to go,” he says, and clambers off the haystack.

*

* * *

 

The rats are gone. The Piper cannot stay any longer.

“Who steals the children?”

The Piper is securing his saddlebags, but he pauses and turns to look at him. “What?”

The young man is calm, his voice quiet. “When I asked, you said you don't steal children.” He cocks his head to the side. “So who does?”

“No one.”

The young man takes a step forward. “You're lying.”

“You're delusional.”

“What is your name? Another step.

“Why do you care?”

“Take me with you.” He stops, and the Piper looks at him in dismay. “Erwin,” he whispers.

Erwin steps closer. “Tell me your name.”

“No.”

“Take me with you.”

“I can't.”

“Why not?” He is less than a foot away. The Piper's face is twisted in agony. “Because I won't - I _will not_ -”

“You will not steal,” Erwin finishes for him softly. “Because you were stolen.”

The Piper says nothing. He doesn't need to.

Erwin leans forward, grasps his jaw with gentle fingers, and whispers in his ear, “I think you'll find, Mr. Piper, that it's too late now. Your enchanting tune already has me captive and there is nothing here in this town that could keep me from you.”

As if in relief, the Piper sighs, his shoulders slump and he leans into the hand on his cheek. “Levi,” he mutters.

He feels Erwin's smile on his jaw. “Take me with you, Levi.”

The Piper sighs again, his lips curving upwards too. “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I hope the implication in the end is clear enough. For my part, as a kid, I always wondered what the Pied Piper did with the kids he "stole". The most common answer I got, terrifyingly, was "he ate them". o_O
> 
> Still, can you imagine Kenny as the original Pied Piper? I thought I couldn't, but now I can't unsee it.
> 
> Also, I HC Erwin as younger than Levi in this. But, like, that's up to your interpretation. :)
> 
> Anywho, as always, please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!


End file.
